The (Un)Forgettable Team TAPE
by CushionySiren3
Summary: Four losers on a team that doesn't even sound like a color are going to take Beacon by storm and save the world... probably.
1. Have fun at school

It was a bright sunny day in Vale as the sun painted the city with its warm rays of light. A few birds were chirping happily on a terrace overlooking the street as a young man wearing a tactical vest over a long sleeved sweater and a long, thick black and yellow scarf around his neck sprinted down the sidewalk. The young man was breathing heavily as his luggage bounced up and down with each step he took; his diamond print scarf whimsically flowing behind him. He was carrying a couple of large suitcases under both of his arms and a sleeping bag was tied to his backpack, all of course rustling loudly and robbing the tranquility from this peaceful morning. When the young man reached the end of the block he leaned against the corner of a building and took some short deep breaths.

He set down one of the suitcases on the ground and rubbed his sleeve against his tan, sweaty face before running a hand through his dirty blonde hair and readjusting a pair of goggles resting on the edge of his hairline. He glanced up and down the road to gain a sense of direction and when he confirmed that nothing looked familiar (probably due to the fact that he hadn't actually been to this part of town before) he gave a small nod.

"Well, I'm lost." He said weakly. He glanced around again for some kind of recognizable landmark, but he spotted something even better, an older silver haired man in a suit. _'He probably knows his way around here.'_ The young man thought hopefully.

"Umm excuse me, sir?" the young man said nervously.

"Hmm, yes?" The older man turned slowly, revealing that he sported a silver mustache and tired eyes.

"Uh, would you happen to know the way to the Vale Air Station?" The young man asked eagerly.

The old man ran his fingers over his mustache a couple of times before snapping his fingers and pointing to his left. "So you gotta go down that'a way about three blocks, before makin' a right, then another left and then you keep goin' til ya' see it. It's 'mpossible to miss it."

The young man mumbled the directions to himself a couple of times while he scooped up his other suitcase. "Alright, thank you sir! Have a nice day!" he shouted happily as he sprinted across the road and down the street.

The old man simply smiled at the peculiar boy and went on his way with a little chuckle.

The young man fought hard to catch his breath as he walked up to the Vale Air Station. He was covered in sweat and he couldn't stop panting. He was used to running, but running down the streets with all your gear, school supplies, an extra bag filled with spare clothes and no sense of direction was another thing entirely. When the airships came into view he began to instinctively shuffle towards the crowd.

"Woah woah woah! Hold up there pal." A security guard placed a hand on the center of the young man's chest, "Only students of Beacon academy are allowed in there. I'm gonna need some identification."

"Oh sorry,", The young man slurred as he set down one of his bags and pulled his Scroll off of his belt. He handed it to the guard and watched him thumb through the screen with patience.

The guard only gave the young man a couple of glances, "Automne… Interesting name, you from around here?"

"Uh no I've actually just moved here recently." Automne replied quickly.

The guard gave him one more inquisitive glance before closing his Scroll. "Everything looks good, go check in your bags over there at that desk and have a nice day. And kid trust me, you're gonna like it around here."

"Oh, thank you," Automne said graciously as he marched over to the baggage registration desk. In no time flat his bags had a few barcodes slapped onto them and were on a conveyor belt into the cargo hold of the ship.

Automne moved into one of the large groups accumulated around the entrance to the ship. Luckily it was only a few minutes of dealing with a loud, rowdy, and surprisingly colorful crowd of teenagers before they were all ushered onto the ship by flight attendants. The inside of the ship was rather spacious and well illuminated by large windows along the sides of the ship. There were a few monitors throughout the ship broadcasting the local news, but Automne wasn't very fond of the news due to the fact that the news was pretty boring.

'_I wonder if there's anything interesting around here?'_ Automne thought to himself as he began to walk around aimlessly.

After a ten minute stroll through the cabin Automne painfully realized that this was going to be a boring flight and that all the chairs were uncomfortable. So Automne thought of the only sensible thing to do in this kind of situation, take a nap on the floor.

Automne fell backwards against the hard metal floor with a thud and tried to make the best of a bad situation. Sure the floor was cold and dirty and Automne knew that people were staring at him, but it was nice, sort of. He let out one large sigh and tried to let the world around him slip away. Slip away into a peaceful and quiet drift through the sky.

"Oh my gosh!" The sound of footsteps pounding against the floor could be heard growing louder until the sound was right next to him. "Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!" The hyper rambling was clearly coming from a concerned girl who must have seen him fall on the ground.

Automne figured that she was going to ask him to get off the ground, but then she knelt down quickly and pressed her ear against his chest. Automne's eyes shot open in alert and confusion, _'Umm what-'_.The girl let out a quick gasp in shock and grabbed Automne under the chin while a hand was placed behind his head for support. She began to tilt her head in towards his. "What are you-"

The girl let out a small shriek and jumped backwards, "Y-y-y-you're alright?" the girl stammered in confusion and shock.

"Yeah, I was just laying down for a quick nap." Automne explained with a sense of confusion about him.

The girl began to quiver and point between their mouths with a single shaking finger. "I-I-I-I almost gave you C-P-P-PR. I would've k-k-k-k-kissed you." The girl wrapped her arms around herself and began to shake uncontrollably.

"Umm are you alright?" Automne asked with concern as he watched the girl tremble on the ground.

The girl had a head of long midnight black hair, she had straight bangs that only reached her eyebrows, but the rest of her silk like hair cascaded down her head in long straight strands which lightly brushed against the floor as she trembled. She wore a pair of semi-rimless gray glasses over her soft, almond shaped periwinkle eyes, which complimented her heart shaped face nicely. Automne stammered for a minute as he tried to compose himself in front of the distraught girl.

He quickly pulled himself onto his feet, "I'm s-s-sorry about that. Here let me help you up?" He bumbled nervously as he extended a hand to the girl.

The girl flinched slightly and ran her eyes over Automne, and then his hand, and then Automne again before hesitantly placing her small gloved hand in his own and allowing him to help her to her feet. Once the girl was on her feet she brushed her hands over the seat of her white pants a couple of times. Automne scanned over her curiously, sparing a small glance to the red cross on her shoulder before he followed her thick curtain of black hair halfway down her back; he paid a fleeting glance to the silvery gray emblem emblazoned on the coattail of her jacket before quickly averting his attention from the region near her rear.

'_How do people even manage hair like that?'_ Automne thought to himself as he began to examine the girl's tidy white and gray clothes. Each piece of her clothing bore a hygienic and unusually sterile air to them which only made Automne even more curious.

The girl loudly cleared her throat, her cheeks a warm shade of pink. "Would you kindly stop gawking at me?" The girl asked politely as she glared at Automne with what felt like anger, but looked like a forced nervous front.

"I-I'm not gawking, I'm uhh…" Automne quietly trailed off as he struggled to find the appropriate words.

The girl nodded her head as if she had won some kind of battle, "A-alright, now I think I deserve an apology for you trying to kiss me." The girl said shyly as she tried to avoid eye contact.

"What? I didn't try and kiss you; you were trying to give me CPR!"

The girl flinched, "I thought you had passed out. I couldn't hear you breathing."

Automne knocked his hand against his chest, "I'm wearing a tactical vest. There's no way you could hear me breathing through my armor." Automne said matter-o-factly as he raised an eyebrow.

The girl looked back and forth while trying to maintain her obviously withering air of a dominant presence. "Well… you shouldn't lie on the floor." The girl said softly, "It's concerning." The girl folded her arms and turned away slightly.

Automne gave a small sigh, "I'm sorry I was lying on the floor, I didn't mean to worry anybody."

The girl glanced in Automne's direction and gave him a small sincere smile before turning back towards him. "Apology accepted," She said in an unfeigned tone as she gave him a small nod, "My name is Eve Howlite." She said as she offered a hand for a handshake.

Automne gave a small smirk and shook Eve's hand, "I'm Automne Ombre Noire."

"So, may I ask why were you trying to sleep on the ground?" Eve asked with a raised eyebrow.

Automne ran his fingers through his hair and gave a bit of a chuckle, "It's a long story."

* * *

><p><strong>Oh yeah Disclaimer: RWBY is owned and licensed by Rooster Teeth Production Studios and Monty Oum. Please support the official release.<strong>

**Hey everybody I hoped you enjoyed the first chapter. I've had this idea for a while and I'm finally happy to present it. Leave a review and follow the story if you want; there's more to come. Until next time, Peace out.**

**-CS**


	2. Make new friends

"And then I slipped on a slice of pizza and fell down the stairs." Automne told Eve with a grimace as he rubbed his back.

"Why was there pizza on your staircase?" Eve asked in a small quiet voice, which Automne was just about sure was her normal voice.

"Why wouldn't you leave pizza near the staircase? It saves you a trip from going down to the kitchen." Automne stated as if he were the mastermind behind some kind of genius breakthrough.

"Wouldn't it spoil?"

"Not if you put plastic wrap over it. Besides pizza's a vegetable; vegetables never spoil. Now where was I…?" Automne trailed off as he leaned against a beam between a set of windows.

"You had just slipped on some pizza."

"Right, thank you, so after I slipped on the pizza I found a note from my dad telling me that he had gone to work early. So then I gathered up all my clothes, supplies, and other junk and sprinted downtown to get to the air station, which was extremely exhausting, and that's why I was napping on the floor."

Eve blinked a few times, "Well that sounds… unfortunate." Eve snapped her fingers in delight "Maybe you should put batteries in your alarm clock next time." She added cheerfully, holding a finger up like she had answered some kind of difficult query.

"I'll keep that in mind." He replied with a hint of sarcasm. "So, I've told you a bit about me let's hear a little about you. Are you training as a field medic?"

Eve nodded her head, a bit of surprise visible in her bespectacled eyes. "How did you know?"

"The red cross on your shoulder,"

Eve turned to look at her own shoulder and giggled a bit, "Oh yeah, almost forgot about that; yeah I am. My dad's a doctor and my mom's an officer in the military so I figured why not save people and have the best of both worlds? And if you think about it even heroes need medical attention."

Automne gave a small smirk as he walked over to the window, the water below them rippling with a sense of quiet majesty as the sun scurried across its surface. "How noble of you; I'm sure you'll be saving lives in no time. Speaking of which I think we're almost there." _'That or those cliffs are getting bigger.'_

"Really," Eve burst out in excitement as she bumped Automne to the side to get a better view out the window. "Sorry, but I've been dreaming about this for years." Her eyes still glued to the fast approaching landing pad.

Automne's smirk slowly faded as he stared out at the colossal towers standing as a symbol of hope and security for all. "I know the feeling… Well let's get goi- Eve?" Automne said in confusion as he looked around for the quirky girl who was nowhere to be seen. "Oh," he said quietly as he lowered his head.

'_No no it's alright go ahead and leave, just thought we were friends.'_ Automne thought to himself as he shuffled towards the exit to the ship. _'Well we did just meet, but we talked for a bit and that's what makes people friends… right? Or would that make us acquaintances.'_ Automne gave a small sigh as he walked off the ship. His skin was graced with warm rays of sunlight while the air was filled with the grotesque noise of some guy vomiting into a trash can_. 'I know we only talked for a little bit, but she didn't even say goodbye. It's a bit rude to just leave so abruptly, but I kind of get why she wouldn't want to hang around with me, I probably smell like sweat and-'_

"Hey wait up!" A familiar voice shouted from behind.

"Huh" Automne turned back towards the ship the see none other than Eve with a medium sized white box hanging by off her shoulder and an old camera in her hand.

"Sorry about that, I forgot that I set my stuff down earlier and I needed to go get my things.

"Oh, well I wasn't worried too much I was sure you had friends to meet up with or something." Automne said as casually as he could in an effort to hide his social ineptitude. He gave a small nod towards the school and once again they were headed off.

"I actually don't have any friends." Eve added with a soft smile and sad eyes. "Studying medicine and combat doesn't leave a lot of leeway for a social life." She gave a couple of chuckles as she adjusted the strap around her shoulder.

'_Ask, aaaaaask!' _

"Weeeell since I don't know anybody from around here and you seem pretty cool so… Do you wanna be friends?" Automne asked as he rubbed at his neck and stared down at his moccasins. He began darting his eyes back and forth between the ground and Eve with the hope of seeing some kind of reaction.

The seconds seemed to stretch on for minutes before her soft voice broke the silence in a polite and chipper tone. "Yes, I would like to be friends." She said with a warm smile.

A large grin grew across Automne's face as he restrained the urge to jump with joy. "Alright!" he shouted happily. "Now let's seal the deal." He held his fist out in front of Eve, stopping both of them in their tracks.

Eve stared at his fist blankly for a couple of moments. "Umm, what does-"

"Haven't you ever heard of a fist bump before?" Automne raised an eyebrow, his fist awkwardly hanging in the air.

"Umm kind of," she said nervously as she began to curl her fingers into a fist and slowly, ever so slowly extend it towards Automne's fist. Automne let out a bored sigh as she slowly directed her gloved fist towards his with the steady precision of a surgeon, trying to guide it in juuuust ri-

BOOM

Eve and Automne glanced around in a panic.

"What was that?!"

"I don't know!"

The two of them looked around for the source of the explosion, but Automne stopped abruptly and looked down at his fist.

"Hey Eve," Eve stopped and turned to Automne. "I think- I think that was a sign that this… is the start of a good friendship." Eve stared quizzically for a moment before a warm, jubilant smile swept away her worries. "So… what now?"

"Well, my dad wanted me to take a few pictures of the campus and send them to him."

"That sounds cool, but what's with that camera?"

"My dad and I prefer film over that digital stuff; it just feels more real."

"That's a nice way to think about it." Automne said with a whimsical sense of joy as they began to stroll off in the direction of some ponds that looked like they'd make for some nice scenic pictures.

"Hey do you think we should be worried about that-"

"No no it was a sign; don't worry 'bout it."

"… It is up to you to take the first step." Ozpin concluded as Eve and Automne watched the headmaster eagerly from the crowd.

"Well," Eve started; discouragement heavy in her voice. "That was…"

"Uplifting," Automne interjected with a bit of sarcasm as he watched Ozpin walk away.

"There you go, that works."

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight," Professor Goodwitch added, "Tomorrow your initiation begins, be ready. You're dismissed."

'_Well that hollow, ominous, foreboding speech totally got me hyped to take on this school.'_

"So Eve, how are you- Eve?" once again there was no sign of Eve to be seen anywhere. _'Dust, she's like a ghost or something, or a really sneaky cat. Well I might as well go and find my luggage.'_

Automne figured as he began to mindlessly follow the bustling crowd of first years into the next room. _'Maybe if I slip a bell into her pocket it'll be easier to notice when she walks away. Or maybe I should just listen to quieter music, gotta protect my hearing. I wonder when-'_

"Dude!" an irate student clad in purple and green yelled, seemingly coming out of nowhere.

"What?" Automne said blankly.

"You spilled my drink all over my Scroll, knocked my Scroll out of my hand, and stepped on it!"

Automne looked down at the ground to see a sopping wet Scroll with a large footprint on it. "Oh jeez, I'm sorry it was an accident, here let me-" Automne bent down and picked up the Scroll, "Umm uh don't worry it'll be perfectly fine if you let it sit in some rice over night." Automne tried to reason as he flailed the young man's Scroll back and forth, droplets of soda flying everywhere including the student's face.

"Where am I supposed to get rice?" Irritation growing in his voice.

"Rice rice rice, OH uh maybe the Cafeteria has some rice or uh maybe there's a store around here or something." Automne handed the Scroll back to the young man and shoved a hand into his pocket. "Uhhh- here! Here's some money to buy some rice, I'm very very sorry." Automne babbled as he shoved the money into the young man's hands.

The young man looked down at the money and let out a groan. "If I can't find any rice you're going to owe me a new Scroll." He stated sharply as he began to walk away.

"That's fair," Automne mumbled to himself. "That's completely and utterly fair." He said in defeat as the guy in purple and green walked away with the money he was hoping to use later.

"Hey Automne sorry, but I forgot to get a picture of the main tower from the front of the school." Eve said happily as she held up her camera. "What'd I miss?"

"Not much," Automne said miserably as he slumped over a little bit.

"Oh, okay" Eve sniffed the air a couple of times, "Why do you smell like grape soda?"

Automne let out a tired sigh and fell on the floor.

'_Finally time for some sleep.'_ Automne thought to himself contently as he strolled down the hall towards the ballroom in his PJ's with his sleeping bag tucked under his arm and his goggles still perched on his head.

"Automne, wait up!" Eve quietly shouted _('Didn't even know that was possible.')_ as she jogged up behind Automne, holding her sleeping bag against her chest. "Sorry I took so long."

"No worries I didn't-" Automne stopped for a moment and looked Eve up and down. A large smirk started to grow across his face as he studied Eve's sleepwear.

"What is it?" Eve asked in concern as she squeezed her sleeping bag a little.

"Oh it's nothing; I just enjoy your grandma's taste in fashion." Automne snickered as he took in the spectacle of Eve's long sleeve ankle length, thick, plain white nightgown.

Eve blushed a little and lowered her chin onto her sleeping bag. "Don't be mean." She said weakly, like Automne had just poured a bucket of cold water onto a bunch of sad puppies.

'_Way to be a douche.'_ Automne gave a sigh, "Look Eve I'm sorry, I was just joking. Here go ahead say anything you want about me. I deserve it." He said as he gestured up and down his body.

Eve looked Automne up and down for a few moments. "Your shirt is kind of faded." Eve said with what Automne assumed was a venomous tone.

"That was… an insult?" Automne asked with a raised eyebrow and a confused grimace.

Eve gave a small shrug, "I like your pajamas." Eve admitted sadly, "Your shirts pretty cool."

Automne gave a heavy sigh, a broad frown replacing the smirk that had been there moments ago. "Well now I feel like a huge jerk. You don't have a single mean-bone in your body do you?"

Eve shook her head, "Being negative doesn't solve anything. You got to look at everything positively if you want things to change." Eve finished with a small miserable smile.

Automne let out a long groan as he slapped a hand over his face. "Augh, now I feel like a monster."

Eve straightened up a bit and lowered her sleeping bag. "Are you sorry?"

"Mhmm,"

Eve paused for a moment while Automne slowly slid his hand down his face. "I accept your apology." Eve said with a small, sweet smile as she held her fist out.

Automne gave a small chuckle and lightly bumped his fist against hers. "How did you not already have any friends?" he asked half-seriously with a soft smile, "Wait a minute… Are you wearing gloves?"

Eve's cheeks turned a light shade of pink, "Th-they're sleeping gloves." Eve didn't wait for Automne's response though and continued to walk off towards the ballroom.

A large grin spread across Automne's face, _'Oh my Dust she's so weird.'_ Automne thought happily as he tried to catch up to his best friend.

"So, I never asked how that shot of the tower came out."

"I don't know," Eve chimed happily, "that's the mysterious joy of film."

"…What?"

"Oh I think we're here!" Eve shouted as she ran into the entrance to the ballroom, Automne following shortly after her.

Automne looked around the room to see that dozens of other students had already set up their sleeping spots and that there were only a few spots left. "Hey Eve I think there are a couple of spots over by that blonde guy let's- Eve?" Automne turned to see Eve gasping for air as she crushed her sleeping bag against herself.

Her eyes darted back and forth between groups of fellow students. Her face began to slowly turn red as she constricted her arms around her sleeping bag. "Eve?! Eve what's wrong?!" Automne reached a hand out towards her shoulder, but she jumped back quickly.

Her lips started to quiver and her whole body began to tremble. "C-c-c-c-c-Co-ed," She said breathlessly as she dropped her sleeping bag to the ground.

Automne gave her a clueless stare, "…Wha-"But Eve had already bolted back down the hall before he could finish his question.

"Umm… I guess… I'll find us a spot." Automne said completely perplexed as to what just happened as he picked up Eve's sleeping bag.

'_Honestly I don't think I could've made a weirder friend if I tried.' _

Automne shuffled over to the open spots and tossed the sleeping bags down next to each other. _'I wonder where Eve ran off to.'_ He thought as he unrolled and straightened Eve's sleeping bag. _'Something was definitely bugging her, but I couldn't tell what… Oh well she should be back soon, hopefully.'_ Automne gave a large sigh as he rolled over and laid back on his plush sleeping bag.

'_Well, I'm here,'_ pure satisfaction washed through Automne as he closed his eyes and rested his arms behind his head. He wiggled a little bit to try and get as snuggly as possible, tomorrow was the big day and he wanted to be well-rested. But something just didn't sit right with him as he stared up at the dim ceiling.

"Where is she?" he muttered to himself as he sat up to see Eve's sleeping bag was still vacant. Automne began to scan the room for any sign of Eve, _'I hope she's alright, she hasn't been gone for too long but- ohhh my Dust.'_ Fire coursed through Automne as he was gifted with a clear view of _her_.

No not Eve, Automne still had not even the faintest idea of where she was, but his concerns for Eve began to dissipate as he watched a gorgeous angel of a young woman from across the ballroom. Automne couldn't help but be captivated by her well toned, muscular body which she barely concealed under a sherbet pink tank top that didn't reach her midriff and a pair of lavender colored sweats that had been cropped to about mid-thigh. A shiver went through Automne as he basked in the radiant glow of her supple blemish-free skin. From the tangerine highlights in her electric blue hair to her sculpted abs she had completely enraptured Automne with her presence.

Automne let out a long sigh, _'She's beautiful…' _He thought to himself completely love struck as he crossed his legs and stared at her from across the room. '_What if she sees you staring? She'll think you're some kind of creep. Look away… But I can't be denied the siren like call of her body. No, look away! ...Okay it's probably safe to look- She's looking over here!' _Automne let out a gasp and slammed his head down backwards into his pillow to pretend like he was sleeping. Unfortunately due to all his shimmying from earlier he must have pushed his pillow a little to his left, because instead of the soft embrace of a down pillow he hit his head against the stiff, cold stone floor.

"Hey Automne," Eve's unforgettable voice rang out as Automne rubbed the back of his head.

"Hey Eve," Automne grunted through gritted teeth as he pried one eye open. "Where'd you-" Automne stopped for a moment to register what exactly he was looking at. "Eve, what are you wearing?" He asked in confusion as he tried to figure out why Eve looked so… thick.

"If I'm going to be sleeping in the same room with boys I need to be properly dressed." Eve stated in a very prudent manner as she waddled over to her sleeping bag and attempted to bend down low enough to sit down.

"Soooo you decided to put on a ski jacket under your nightgown?" he said skeptically as he kept a close eye on Eve's nightgown in fear that it would burst open at any moment.

Eve giggled a little, "I'm not wearing a ski jacket; I'm wearing 2 t-shirts, a sweater, a jacket, 3 pairs of pajama pants and oof 2 pairs of underwear." Eve said with a jolly little smile as she fell onto the ground. Automne simply stared at her with a straight face and a raised eyebrow. "What?" She said curiously as she looked down at her sleepwear, "Do you think it's enough?" Her concerned question was only met with a quiet stare that basically read as _'seriously?'_ Eve looked down at her clothes again, "No?"

Automne gave a tired sigh, "Goodnight, Eve." He said listlessly as he began to crawl into his sleeping bag.

"Umm, Automne would you mind zipping me up? I can't bend my arms."

Automne gave a heavy sigh, "Alright, roll over for a second." Automne pulled the sleeping bag out from under the pile of fabric that was Eve and began to unzip it. "Roll in,"

"Thanks for this." Eve chimed happily as he began to zip up the sleeping bag over her.

"Don't mention it. Do you want me to leave the top open so you can have some fresh air?"

"No, there's a hose in my hand, just put that in my mouth before you zip it closed."

Automne just shrugged, _'At this point nothing really surprises me.'_ "Alright," he added as he took the hose from her hand and placed it in the corner of her mouth. "You good?"

"Can you take my glasses off, please?"

Automne gave a small smirk, "Only since you asked nicely." He gingerly lifted the glasses off of her face and folded them.

Eve blinked a few times, "Thank you; just set them down next to me." Eve garbled happily as Automne set them down beside her head and placed the end of the hose outside of the sleeping bag.

"There, need anything else? Glass of water, a late night snack, a freshly made chocolate soufflé coated in rich caramel syrup and topped with the finest of strawberries from the west acres?"

"Uh uh,"

"Okay then, good night Eve." Automne finished politely as he zipped the sleeping bag closed.

"Good night, Automne." Her muffled voice called out from inside the sleeping bag.

Automne let out one final sigh and fell back on his sleeping bag. He lowered his goggles over his eyes and adjusted them to their darkest setting as he fluffed his pillow.

'_Welcome to Beacon.'_ He thought triumphantly as he began to slowly drift to sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey everyone thanks for reading. I'm eager to hear what you have to say so leave a review and if you want go ahead and follow the story. I want to thank my editor NinjaSlayer4x who's been a big help and always manages to find the time to edit my stories. Go check out his fanfiction called "Crossing Swords" if you have the time. And if you're liking this story maybe check out my other story, "A Frozen Heart". Well that's all I have to say, until next time, Peace out.<strong>

**-CS**


	3. Don't play with those

_'You got this,'_ Automne assured himself as he popped his knuckles. _'You totally got this, there is no doubt you got this.'_ He took a deep breath, stepped onto the steel launch pad, and slowly exhaled. _'You've been training for years; there is no way you're gonna fail.'_ His heart steadily pounded like a drum as he gazed out at the sea of trees that stretched on for miles below the cliffs. _'The weather's nice, not too windy, no fog, you'll be out of there in no time… unless… noooo you got this.' _Automne lowered his goggles over his eyes and pulled his scarf up over his mouth.

"…Each of you will be given teammates, today." Professor Goodwitch finished sharply; Automne was just going to pretend like he caught the rest of her monologue while he continued to mentally prepare himself.

'_Alright, well that's good, I guess. Makes sense, of course they'd want me to work with someone.'_

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone whom you can work well."

'_Oh, we're choosing. That's fine, totally fine, I guess I can pair up with Eve or-'_

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

'… _Wait… What? So am I actually choosing or does it all depend on who I run into first? Am I supposed to stare at the floor if I don't want to be partnered with them?'_ Automne continued to ponder this obscenely confusing contradiction as Ozpin went on with the briefing.

'_Alright, I guess it doesn't matter. I'll just meet someone; we'll grab the artifact and get out… Just don't get paired with someone who sucks… And I have to do this quickly for a good grade… And I can't die.'_

"Are there any questions?" Ozpin asked calmly, a blonde haired guy towards the end of the line raised his hand, and from where Automne was standing, it looked like he said something, but instead of actually answering his question Ozpin concluded with a loud, "Good,"

'_Not sure why he Ozpin asked, but once again I guess that doesn't matter.' _

"Now, take your positions!"

Automne took a deep breath and drew two thick metal escrima sticks from holsters on his back. He rotated his wrists a little to re-accustom himself to their weight and slowly exhaled. _'I got this. I have my boys and I have the skills to get through this forest without a problem… well,' _Automne set his right foot forward and loosened his shoulders as the sounds of launch pads flinging students into the air began to grow closer.

'_I haven't actually tested this new landing strategy though.'_

The sound of curled springs releasing tension continued to grow closer.

'_And at this trajectory I probably won't have enough time to build up air resistance,'_

The roaring of the launching pads didn't yield as beads of sweat began to trickle down Automne's face.

'_This is going to fail! Maybe I can switch to my other one… The one that resulted in three broken bones…' _Automne's launching pad let out a loud click.

"I'm going to die." Automne quietly muttered in horror as the pad sent him soaring into the air.

The wind howled through his ears in one long continuous note as Automne tried to calm himself. He spread his arms and legs out as far as he could, the unyielding torrent of wind blasting against him ruthlessly, _'Alright, now all I need's a tree. Where's a tree, where's a tree, tree tree tree,' _He thought in a panic as his ascension came to a stop and he began to fall.

'_There!' _And there it was a few hundred yards away, a tall, thick, lumbering tree with wide, strong branches. Automne folded his arms against himself and dived in its direction.

The blistering wind whipped against his face like a ruthless assailant as he honed in on his target. The only thing he hated more than the draining dry air was the sound of the wind bellowing in his ears, almost completely drowning out all logical thought. It filled his head with fear and anxiety; that was its poison and Automne knew it could kill him.

'_Now!'_ electricity ran through Automne's body as he spread his arms and legs out wide once again and gave a light flick in both his wrists to bring out the secondary forms of his weapons; Twilight Harmony and Dawn Tranquility. The one in his right hand gave a loud metallic whir as the pistol grip for Twilight Harmony unfolded and the long, suppressed barrel turned into alignment. In his other hand Dawn Tranquility gave a loud pop, Automne quickly smashed his wrist down against Dawn Tranquility, binding its light metal sheath around his wrist like a band and leaving a thin, sharp ninjato blade behind.

Automne began to wildly fire his pistol down in the direction of the tree as he turned his blade downwards and curled his knees up close to his chest. He channeled his aura down into his blade and his feet as he hurtled towards the fast approaching tree.

'_Please don't kill me!'_ He hoped through gritted teeth seconds before colliding with the tree, sending splintered wood and debris into the air. His spine was rattling and the tree swayed back and forth treacherously as Automne breathed heavily in disbelief.

"I'm alive?! I'm alive!" He shouted in joy as he loosened his grip on his sword and looked for a near-by branch to swing to. "And no broken bones, that's a first." He mumbled with a small smile as he yanked Dawn Tranquility out of the tree and leapt onto a branch.

The branch suddenly gave a loud ominous crack and emitted a loud moan. "What the-" Automne looked over the branch and saw two large bullet holes. "Oh Dust nooooooooo," Automne trailed off as he plummeted down to the forest floor below, hitting every branch on the way down.

"Uhhhhh," Automne moaned as he rustled around in a bush as hundreds of healthy leaves slowly drifting down from broken branches and landed atop his body. "Well at least this bush saved me." Automne groaned into his scarf, cutting his cheek on the thorns of the bramble bush he had fallen in.

'_Well I feel, and probably look, like crap, my face is bleeding, I'm covered in bruises and cuts, I'm pretty sure I broke a rib and I definitely dislocated my shoulder; I'm off to a wonderful start.'_ Automne thought miserably as he pulled himself onto his feet and limped out of the bush.

"On the plus side I have a snack." He mumbled half heartedly as he reached into the bush and plucked a couple of berries.

"I'm a ninja. I'm a scarfie ninja. I'm a ninja. I'm a scarf guy ninja. Eating berries 'cause I am a ninja! Eating tons of berries, hwaaa!" Automne shouted like a spazz as he shuffled through the forest doing karate chops into the air with one hand while his other arm hung off of him like a dead palm frond.

Automne stopped abruptly and turned to a bush. The bush gave a small rustle and Automne drew Twilight Harmony and aimed it at the center of the bush. He steadied his breathing and locked his iron sights onto the thick leaves. He dared not blink in fear that he would lose his opportunity for a quick, clean fight. He was in no condition for an open fight and he knew he'd probably lose his arm if he wasn't quick enough.

The bush rustled furiously, "Come on," Automne growled from behind his scarf. The bush continued to sway while Automne's blood only boiled hotter, "Face me!" He taunted with furious anticipation as he moved his finger onto the trigger.

The beast swooped out from the bush like lightning and flew for Automne's face, cawing and flapping its wings madly as Automne shot a single round into the chest of a small Nevermore.

Automne stared down at the quickly decomposing monster, "Huh, well that was a bit anti- whoa!" Automne dove to the floor as a large object swooped through the air and cleaved through a nearby tree.

"What was that?" Automne whispered as he crawled into a nearby bush. He pushed some leaves out of the way and was presented his answer in the form of a fellow student swinging a large shuriken through the air as a few large Nevermore's swarmed him in a small clearing between the trees.

The young man grunted and swung his open shuriken furiously as the Nevermore's pecked at his arms and tried to claw at his face with their razor-sharp talons. The hunter made to run into the forest, but quickly pivoted and sliced clean through one of the Nevermores, the sun gleaming heroically off of his thick rectangular glasses.

'_I should probably help him.'_ Automne began to tighten his grip on his handgun, but before he could pounce out of the bushes like a crippled puma the hunter in training flung his shuriken through the air. Its four large blades ripped clean through a Nevermore and spun through the air like a windmill until it landed in the bushes next to Automne kicking up grass and dirt as it spun in the ground.

The student in the clearing gave a tugging gesture towards the shuriken and somehow pulled it from the ground and returned to swinging it through the air at the remaining Nevermore.

Automne gave a heavy sigh, _'You know what, I think he's got this.'_ He thought bitterly as he began to brush dirt off of his face and goggles.

And so he left him to it, he didn't leave him to deal with it on his own or anything selfish like that though. He just sat idly by in the bush and watched patiently as his fellow student swung his giant shuriken around with the hope of killing the pestilent Nevermore.

'_I'm almost tempted to just shoot that damn thing.'_ Automne thought to himself after another five minutes of watching the student throw his shuriken, miss the Nevermore, shout a little bit, and repeat the process. Surprisingly it didn't look like Automne was the only one who had had enough of this because the student suddenly lowered his shuriken and collapsed it into a thick single blade and started to walk away. _'Well it's great to know someone like him will be protecting all of us very soon. Thank you random person I can sleep peacefully at night now.'_

The Nevermore however didn't seem nearly as discouraged and dived at the seemingly unmotivated student only to be sliced down in one fell swoop; the student gave a small flourish with the curved blade and hooked it onto his belt by its large circular handle.

'_Huh well I guess that wraps that up.'_

"To whoever's in the bush, thanks for doing absolutely nothing!" The purple and green hunter shouted sarcastically as he glared in Automne's direction.

Automne slowly rose out of the bushes, and lowered his scarf "Heeeeeeey, so… how're you doing?"

The student furrowed his brow and crossed his arms, his vambraces clinking together lightly as a broad frown spread across his face. "Why didn't you help me?"

Automne exhaled heavily, "Well, it kind of looked like, to me at least, that you kind of had it covered. I mean you took out those other two easily, it should have been no problem to take out one more, right?" Automne finished with some forced laughter as he attempted to talk himself out of this mess.

Unfortunately smooth talking wasn't exactly his forte and the irritated student seemed to agree. His spectacled dark green eyes watched Automne with contempt as he stood there silently. His tidy black hair and a light purple sash hanging off the back of his leather belt swayed lightly as a breeze blew through the clearing. Automne couldn't tell what was more off-putting; the student's clear lack of humor, which could be seen by all the lines on his face, or the fact that he was dressed like he was from some sort of formal ninja army and he was very capable of breaking Automne like a pencil.

He was wearing a dark purple and black chest plate over his short-sleeved dark green collared shirt. His shirt was buttoned all the way up and it was tucked in neatly to his black pants that had a single purple stripe running down each leg.

Automne cleared his throat, "Sorry," He muttered shamefully as he was barraged with the student's soul-piercing stare. "So… I guess we're teammates now."

The irritated student gave a sigh, "Yeah, I guess we are." He said in an obviously less than thrilled tone.

"My name's Automne." Automne said shyly as he extended his hand.

"Ty," The other student responded dryly as he shook Automne's hand. "So, let's get going, we need to get to the relics and we've already lost a fair amount of time." Ty added flatly as he turned back towards the forest.

"Right ehm, before we go do you think you could help me relocate my shoulder?" Automne asked politely as he waved his limp arm in Ty's direction.

Ty let out a sigh, "Alright, let me see it." Ty grumbled as he walked back over to Automne and took a hold on his arm, pushed his elbow against his side, and started to turn his forearm outwards.

"Alright so how're we going to do this? Are you going to say when you're going to do it or should I count and the-" Automne let out a loud shriek as Ty shoved his shoulder upwards into its socket.

"There, you're good, now let's go." Ty asserted as he quickly walked into the forest.

'_This could be going better.'_ Automne thought to himself as he trudged along slowly behind Ty with tears in the corners of his eyes.

Automne gave a sigh, lifted his goggles to brush away the tears, and broke into a short jog to catch up with Ty, his new teammate.


	4. They might bite

Automne glanced over to his new partner who was wearing a serious expression and positively exuding determination from his pores. Automne cleared his throat and looked for any kind of reaction on Ty's behalf, but he only received silence as they briskly walked through the dense forest. They would occasionally have to stop and clear away vines or some brush, but all the while the stifling silence remained between the two young men who were now forced to be partners for the next four years.

Automne glanced over at Ty one more time and took a deep breath, _'Looks like I'm going to be breaking the ice this time.'_

"So… are you still mad about the hiding in the bushes thing?" Automne's answer was met with dead silence, aside from the foliage rustling beneath them.

'_Probably should've started out with something a little less recent.'_

"So, did you manage to find any rice yesterday? ...For the Scroll? ...The one that I stepped on." Silence persisted while Automne cringed at his own question

'_Wow… Are there any more stupid things I should say? How about I just insult him because at this point I honestly don't know how I could possibly make things any worse.'_

"Actually yes I did,"

"Really?" Automne said slightly awe struck that Ty had actually managed to find rice in an academy made to train warriors.

"Yeah, the lunch ladies in the Cafeteria said stuff like that apparently happens a lot, so they keep a couple of extra bags of rice on the side." Ty said with what sounded like a somewhat upbeat tone.

'_Yes, thank you extremely considerate lunch ladies. You have saved my life once again.'_

"But that doesn't really matter because when you stepped on it you must've broken something internally, because now the screen doesn't work."

'_Damn it!'_

"Oh, I'm really sorry about that. I'll try to repay you as soon as possible." Automne said with a frown as guilt and worry ran through his mind due to the fact that he had completely botched up all chances for a good first impression.

"Don't worry about it too much. You'll have plenty of time to pay me back, and now I don't have to worry about hunting you down now." Ty responded with a sinister smile.

"What does that mean?" Automne asked slightly offended by what Ty was implying.

"No offense, I'm just saying I just thought you might try skipping out on me after that debacle."

Automne opened his mouth to return fire, but just decided to let out a heavy sigh instead. "Whatever, so you seem pretty… lethal. Where did you train?" Automne asked curiously as he eyeballed Ty's lean but muscular arms as he climbed over a fallen tree.

"I went to Signal."

"Just Signal?" Automne asked as he threw his legs over the tree. "No private ninja army or anything like that?"

"No, but I did work with my dad and the Vale police department for a while." Ty chimed with a sense of pride.

'_Well that explains a few things, I guess.' _

"I actually almost joined the police force, but I figured defending all of humanity and the Faunus was the better choice." He continued with a large proud grin.

'_Lot s of noble people around here.'_

"Huh, well that was a bold choice. It was probably the better choice anyways; I don't think the Vale PD would want you running around with that big old thing. Ya might accidentally be scraping cars and accidentally cutting up old ladies; people would be freaking out." Automne gave a chuckle as he imagined the streets in panic over something as simple as a giant shuriken.

" 'Ahhhh run away, it's the shurikeeen!' Then they all burst into flames" Ty and Automne shared a short laugh before Ty cleared his throat. "But actually the Vale Police Department was perfectly fine with me using my shuriken and they even promote the use of personally constructed weapons as long as they follow permitted statutes set by the current elected officials and the commissioner. The use of constructed weapons prevents officers from becoming extremely stressed on duty and has been shown to cause a decrease in crime rates in areas where patrol officers are using custom weapons. The only real issues have been a small group of citizens claiming that blah blah blah blah blah-"

A small trail of spittle began to crawl out of Automne's mouth after he got lost in the endless lecture that poured out of Ty and it only crawled further and further down his chin as Ty continued to go on and on and on and –

"So does your shuriken do anything cool." Automne rudely interrupted as he wiped the saliva off his chin with his scarf.

Ty gave a bitter scowl and drew his collapsed shuriken by its circular handle and raised it up inches in front of Automne's nose. Automne stopped in place and keenly studied the four blades collapsed next to each other to form a single wide sword. The interior of the blades were thin and razor sharp while the exterior was noticeably broader, but Automne had no doubt that it could hack through steel and bone without any issue. Automne continued to follow the mysterious allure of the curved blades to their tips and was once again surprised by another piece of this weapons arsenal, a small hollow port just behind the tip of each blade.

Before Automne even had a chance to ask Ty about the port Ty slid his thumb forward on the handle, causing the blades to spring open with the speed of a bullet and lock into place to form Ty's large, somewhat intimidating shuriken.

"The handle is equipped with small pressure plates which I use to manipulate the blades and the dust ports on the end of each blade." Ty explained flatly as he pushed his thumb sideways on the edge of the handle, releasing two parallel blades which began to slowly spin while the other two remained locked in place. "These two are on a separate axis and can rotate freely while the other two remain set; any more questions?" Ty pressed his thumb against the handle again and brought the spinning blades to a halt before giving the handle a squeeze to collapse the blades.

"What's its name?"

Ty paused for a moment as he hooked the shuriken onto his belt, "What?"

"Your weapon, what did you name it?" Automne asked with a growing expectation for something so stunningly awesome as he crossed his arms.

Ty stared down at his sword-shuriken thing and began to nod his head, "Chuck," he said happily before proceeding to walk northward.

Automne squinted a bit, _'Chuck?'_ hey quickly shrugged it off and rejoined Ty, "Oh, just one more thing," Automne inquired as he jumped over a rock. "How were you guiding it through the air back there in that fight?"

"Easy," Ty started as he rolled up his purple leather glove slightly and pulled his vambrace back to reveal what appeared to be a spool of metal thread. "I just loop a thread into the handle before the fight starts and I can control the Shuriken by hitting its pressure plates."

Automne stared down at the threads and blinked a few times. _'Not going to even try and make sense of that. You know what at this point I'm basically inclined to believe whatever anyone tells me.'_

"Cool, so how much further is it until we get to that temple?"

"I don't know it shouldn't be too much further now."

"See here we are," Ty said triumphantly as he walked into the clearing, the stone temple standing like a golden trophy a few hundred yards away. "I told you it wasn't too far."

"Huh well that was unexpectedly fast." Automne mumbled as the two of them walked into the clearing which was covered in melting ice and large feathers skewered into the dirt. "Wonder what caused that."

"Yeah, something big must've happened here." Ty said in awe as he looked around.

"Haha good thing we didn't have to deal with it, right?"

Ty gave a chuckle "Oh definitely, up top!" and so they shared an extremely undeserved high-five and laughed all the way to the altar, but their moods took a drastic turn when they actually got to the temple and looked around.

"Oh come on!" Automne said in disappointment as him and Ty stared at the last remaining relic, a black pawn.

Ty gave a heavy sigh and picked it up, "Well it's pretty clear that we're doing the worst out of everyone. Don't blame yourself too much,"

"Hey I-"

"Wasted a good chunk of our time by hiding in the bushes and preventing us from actually making any progress,"

'_Oh yeah… Sort of forgot about that'_

"What we need to worry about now is getting back to Beacon as quickly as possible. That being said we can't go back the same route, it'll take too long, those thicker trees over there probably have more Grimm, but it should make for a straighter path back towards the cliffs." Ty advised without the slightest indication that there were any other options.

'_Hmm so we're going to trek through an even more dense part of the forest than what we were just in, which is more than likely filled with monsters which could very well impede our progress even more, and this plan is entirely dependent on the fact that that part of the forest makes for a straighter line to the cliffs which we really have no actual reference towards because we were flung through the air, and we have absolutely no experience with traversing this landscape. I see absolutely no issues with this plan.'_

Automne gave a heavy sigh, "This is bogus." He muttered weakly before he started to march off towards the tree line with one hand in his pocket and his other on his drawn blade.

"Hey you got us into this mess, and who still says bogus anymore?" Ty inquired with growing impatience as he stuffed the relic into his pocket and drew his swordiken.

"I still say bogus. Don't be bogus." Leaves and vines flew through the air as Automne sliced through the thick greenery.

"I don't think you even know how to use that word." With every step they took into the forest light slowly faded away as the canopy above them grew unruly and wild.

"Nuh uh, I know how to use it you're just too bogus to understand, you bogus person." The air around them began to grow cold while the smell of rotting flesh wafted past them gently.

"You know what, you're fired."

"What?"

"Yep, you're fired from doing stuff. Now step out of the way, I'll clear out the path for the rest of the way."

"First off how is that even a punishment? Second this plan sucks anyways. We're making almost no progress with all these damn plants in the way." Automne said bitterly as he kicked a fallen branch.

Ty pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head a few times while Automne continued to kick the branch. "Would you stop kicking that-" Ty stopped midsentence and looked straight up and began to look around the dense canopy as a large smile made its way onto his face. "Automne, come here and take hold of me!"

Automne stopped kicking the branch and turned to Ty with his hands held out in front of him, "Whooooa, where're you going with this?"

Ty stared at him with a mixture of shock and confusion, "What? No! For Dust's sake dude, just get over here." Ty demanded as he opened his shuriken.

"Okaaaay," Automne said hesitantly as he shuffled over to Ty.

Ty took the shuriken in one hand and raised it up behind him. "Alright, now grab on." Automne nodded his head and took hold only to immediately receive a shocked, curious stare from Ty after he had bent down and wrapped his arms around Ty's waist.

Automne stared back at Ty with an obvious amount of discomfort, "What?"

"You… could have just grabbed onto my arm…"

"… I-uh I don't want to screw up your throw or anything…"

Awkward silence filled the air for what felt like a minute before Ty cleared his throat.

"Alright then, let's go" he said as boldly as he could as he chucked _('Oh hey I get it.')_ His shuriken up into the trees above, "Hold on!" Ty shouted as he gave a small tug on the wire, whipping them off the ground and pulling them into the canopy. Ty gave a grunt and knocked Automne off into the air where he suddenly collided with a branch.

"Ow." Automne said flatly as he pulled himself onto the branch while Ty stood on a separate branch a few yards away trying to yank his shuriken out of the shattered wood. "Any particular reason why we're up here?" Irritation obvious in Automne's voice as he tried to balance himself on his branch.

"I had an awesome idea while we were down there; why not travel through the canopy? There's no brush to get in our way, these branches are thick enough to support our weight, and there are almost no Grimm that can get us up here." Ty shouted happily as he jumped over to Automne's branch.

"Huh, it's not a bad idea… Hey do you get the feeling that this seems kind of… familiar?"

"What do you mean?"

"It kind of feels like somebody has done this idea before… Kinda feels like we're ripping it off." Automne rubbed his neck, completely lost as to where they got the idea to dart through the trees to get to their destination.

"I know what you mean," Ty started, "But we can't worry about that now we need to get back to the cliffs. Now follow me!" Ty shouted boldly as he jumped to the nearest branch and flailed his arms back and forth insanely to keep his balance.

'_I really should have written my will before I came to this school.'_ Automne thought cynically as he followed Ty's lead and began to join him in jumping along tree branches.

The branches swayed heavily as they threw all of their weight onto the limbs hoping for dear life that they wouldn't snap and end up dragging them to the forest floor. The really great upside of being closer to the canopy was that there seemed to be more light than down below and if Automne didn't know that this forest was trying to kill him he would even have the audacity to call it peaceful.

In between jumps the forest felt so surreal, as if the trees were producing some kind of aroma created to lull people like him into a calm slumber. The kind where your eyes go heavy and your head begins to sway as you drift off into a comfortable mid-day nap. The kind of nap induced by a lack of foresight to not have your scarf cover your nose and mouth before doing any strenuous activity.

'_You're suffocating you idiot!' _

Automne shook his head back and forth as he landed on a branch; he pulled the scarf down below his chin and began to gasp for air. He lurched forward and placed his hands on his knees to steady himself as he tried to catch his breath.

"Dude, Y'all right?" Ty asked in concern as he fell back from the lead and joined Automne.

"Yeah," Automne managed to sputter between gasps, "Just. Catching. My breath."

Ty let out a sigh, "You had me worried for a second. You really need to work on your endurance, dude."

"How would I-" Automne held his breath.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and the air grew cold and dank as that piercing feeling of being watched burned into him. His body was screaming at him to run away, he looked around to see where it was, the entity that was about to kill him.

_**Below**_

"Automne move!" Ty shouted as he drew his weapon and leaped for another branch.

Automne turned to jump but a monstrous crushing noise roared into the air as the tree he was perched on snapped. Before he knew it he was falling, he turned over to see a pair of large black jaws rapidly leaping upwards to consume him whole.

Automne's mind began to race with ideas for how he could evade, his hands gripped his weapons and-

His mind went blank.

There it was, his life, his short sad, slightly ironic life flashing before his eyes as the seconds stretched on across the years as he approached the mouth of a King Taijitu.

Automne was ready to take his last breath and die, but a loud droning noise began to drown out his irrational thoughts.

Luckily the droning was more than just a minor annoyance. The annoying drone was emanating from Ty's large flaming shuriken, which was just about to collide with the Taijitu.

"Huh," Automne said blankly as the shuriken embedded itself in the serpent's head. A gut-wrenching shriek erupted from the monster as the force from the shuriken sent its head sideways into another tree.

'_Well at least I won't eat me.'_ Automne thought with a sense of satisfaction as he plummeted towards the ground.

A loud pop rang through the rushing wind as Ty scooped up Automne in his arms. The wind stopped streaming past Automne's face as all the color from the forest disappeared into white, gray and black outlines of what once was and in a sudden rush they rolled onto the ground with Automne secure in Ty's arms.

A large smile crossed Automne's mouth, "Heeeey, you saved me!" Automne cheered happily with a small chuckle.

"Didn't think I had to." Ty said with a hint of impatience as he dropped Automne onto the forest floor. Automne glanced around and saw that they were in a perfect circle devoid of any shrapnel from the shattered tree.

"So what just happened?" Automne asked utterly clueless as they got to their feet.

"I call it Burst Blink, but we have other things to worry about dude!" Ty informed as the King Taijitu began to rise off the forest floor with Ty's shuriken still embedded in its skull. "I lost the wire to my shuriken, distract it while I retrieve!" Ty ordered as he leapt over the fallen tree and out of sight.

The Taijitu must not have heard Ty's plan though, because instead of focusing on Automne it tracked Ty with its blood-red eyes.

"H-hey!" Automne was breathing heavily as he stared up at the one thing he feared most in the world. He gripped his sword and pistol so hard he thought he could feel blood dripping in his white knuckles. He could barely hold his gun steady, he crossed his right arm over his left in an attempt to keep his iron sights properly aligned, but he knew it was no good.

He was trembling like a coward as the King Taijitu continued to follow Ty with those piercing devil's eyes.

"HEY!" Automne hollered again as he put his foot forward and tried to steady the weapons in his hands.

Automne squeezed the trigger and sent a round down range towards that nightmare.

The seconds seemed to stretch on for days as the Taijitu slowly turned to him.

Automne could feel death creeping through him like a poisonous slug as that beast of a Grimm tore into him with its demonic stare.

It lunged forward.

Automne let out a visceral scream and opened fire.

The world went silent, Automne was screaming his head off, he pulled the trigger again and again and again and he was more than certain that the force of pure malevolence in front of him was shrieking, but he couldn't hear any of it, but he could feel all of it.

Automne pulled at the trigger again and was met with a horrifying click as the last round flew out of his barrel and the slide locked in place. Automne swore under his breath and faced his ninjato outwards towards the Taijitu.

Automne held one foot out towards the monster which was about to strike upon him. The beast rammed at him with the force of a train and sent him flying back, but not before Automne landed a small stab in between its scales.

Automne kicked his heels into the dirt and stabbed his blade down into the ground. A large cloud of dirt kicked up into the air and hung low to the ground as Automne staggered to recompose himself. He dropped the empty magazine from his pistol and quickly reloaded as the relentless serpent began to slither towards him, ready to retaliate for the minimal damage Automne had managed to cause.

A small smirk began to stretch across Automne's mouth as the stupid glory of Ty's plan came to fruition. The muscular warrior was running up the back of the completely unaware King Taijitu. He broke into a full sprint as he started to reach the end of the "path" and let out an incredible roar as he grasped onto his weapon's handle and ripped it out of the monster's head.

Ty pivoted quickly and slashed at the creature's nose before vanishing into thin air for a moment only to appear in the same spot. A sudden burst of energy erupted from Ty's "blink" and repelled him into a back flip while the Taijitu staggered from the recoil.

Ty landed next to Automne with an over the top pose that screamed 'I'm a badass.' But Automne wasn't one to judge, at least not too much, so he clapped a bit and nodded his head. "Nice, I'd give you a 9 out of 10 in the style portion. You cou- Oh you've got to be kidding me!" Automne shouted in frustration as the monster shook its head back and forth and once again locked its eyes on them.

Automne's blood was beginning to boil, he had had enough of this stupid, dirty, monster infested forest and this was just giving him a headache. Automne pulled his scarf over his mouth and adjusted his goggles, his eyes shimmering with a burning passion beneath, "Keep it in one place," Automne demanded as he began to walk off into the woods.

Ty stared at his partner, slightly perplexed as to what his vague order actually meant. "Dude, where-" Ty began before the Taijitu began to circle around him in preparation for a crushing constriction. Ty gave a gasp and teleported out of the narrowing coils.

Ty turned back to prepare for the Grimm's next attack, but a loud crunching noise filled the air. He turned to his left and had come to the realization that he had teleported too close to a tree and ended up blowing away a large portion of its trunk.

"Oh no," Ty muttered in his spare moment before the King Taijitu lunged at him again. He bolted backwards, his head was soaked in sweat and he could feel the energy draining out of him as this fight dragged on. Lucky for him his mistake had become an instant benefit as the lumbering tree he destroyed came toppling down on top of the Taijitu, pinning it against the ground.

The Grimm writhed and shrieked under the enormous tree which, to Ty's surprise, the monster was still capable of moving. Ty took this brief opportunity to catch his breath.

A loud scream filled the air as Automne suddenly appeared next to the head of the King Taijitu and plunged his blade into its blood red eye. The creature let out a shriek of anguish as fluid sprayed outwards onto Automne's face, but he wasn't done just yet. He pressed the barrel of his gun against its eye and began to fire wildly, its juices spraying all over him as he pumped every round he had into the monster even after its head slammed against the floor, indicating their victory.

Automne stared into the mutilated pool of blood and gore that was the Taijitu's eye and let out a sigh. His legs were tired and now he just wanted to sit down on the ground and sleep, but unfortunately he still had things to do.

"Nice job, you could've been a bit clearer with your instructions, but whatever." Ty said cheerfully as he walked over towards Automne and the now dead King Taijitu.

"Thanks," Automne said with a slightly hollow smile as he once again dropped a clip out of his pistol and replaced it with a new one from a pouch on his vest.

"So how did you do that invisibility thing?" Ty asked as he gestured to where Automne had first appeared.

Automne removed his blade from the eye of the Taijitu and wiped it against his sleeve. "It's my semblance; I can turn invisible for about a minute."

"Hmm, ever try more?" Ty asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nah I usually pass out."

"Huh… Hey does it feel like we're forgetting something?"

"I know what you mean, something just feels… off." Automne and Ty said completely clueless to the fact that the King Taijitu's other head was slowly creeping over the fallen tree, preparing to strike on the two of them.

"Hey idiots," A girl screamed from out of nowhere, "get back!" Automne and Ty turned toward the Grimm, shock and fatigue had taken their toll and there was nothing left for them to do.

'_Well time to see my life again.'_ Automne conceded hopelessly as the white jaws of the King Taijitu closed in only to collide with a large light blue triangular wall of light with a flower in the center.

That's when she slid in between the barrier protecting Ty and Automne from death and the imposing monstrous Grimm.

'_It's her,'_ Time seemed to slow down once again as Automne marveled at her stunning, short, blue hair waving gently as an almost nonexistent breeze grazed past them. _'She's even lovelier in her gear.'_ His love-struck mind whispered as he watched creepily as she pulled a shotgun off her back and opened fire, a pair of orange bandanas tied to her arm whipped along with her purple leather jacket as her hail of gunfire held the Taijitu at a distance.

The girl's shotgun gave a loud click; she grasped the top of the barrel in her hands adorned with fingerless gloves, _('Because of course she would wear fingerless gloves.')_ and flipped her weapon over her shoulder. The grip folded up into the now smooth, streamlined handle as a sharp axe-head popped out from the stock with a metallic shink to form an axe which she wielded with an intense confidence.

She steadied her grip on the handle and raised it above her head in a defensive stance. The hair on Automne's neck stood on end as the Taijitu lunged forward; its jaws wide open with the primal desire to rip the mysterious badass apart, but Automne already knew she was going to win this.

The girl glided out of the Grimm's path on a single foot and swung her axe downwards into the mouth of the King Taijitu, lodging its head into the serpent's gums.

She raised a hand off of her axe and with a flick of the wrist created another barrier in its mouth. "Now!"

A sudden rush of black and white swept past the girl and sliced through the Taijitu's fangs with a single clean cut. The blur came to an immediate stop as she turned, her long, lustrous black hair shimmered elegantly as she turned her long weapon in her small gloved hands, jabbing the end of it into the dirt and propelling herself into the air.

'_Eve?'_ disbelief and doubt rushed through his mind as the delicate and strange girl he had met only yesterday flipped through the air, the sun glistening off of her glasses as she flew down onto the top of the King Taijitu, impaling the bladed end of her staff into the center of its white and gray head.

The barriers shattered and dissipated into the air, causing the King Taijitu's mouth to awkwardly clap shut in the now silent clearing.

Eve leaned onto her staff, which was humorously taller than she was, and looked over at Automne with an absolutely cheerful expression. "Hey Automne!" Eve quietly cheered as she waved to get his attention.

"You know these guys?" The blue haired girl grunted as she ripped her axe out of the dead Grimm's mouth, glancing over at Automne and Ty from behind a pair of bright orange mirrored aviators.

"Mhmm," Eve nodded her head happily, "Well, I know that one." Eve pointed at Automne then took a firm hold of her weapon and tried to pull it out of the Taijitu with no avail.

"Hey dude," Ty whispered to Automne, "Is your friend with the naginata single?" Ty asked with a suggestive grin as he pointed over at Eve who was still struggling to remove her weapon from the Taijitu's corpse.

"Too late tough guy," The girl with the axe interjected as she wiped the head of her axe against her purple cargo capris. "I already called dibs on her." An arrogant smile crossed her lips as she rested her axe on her shoulder and placed her other hand on her hip causing the bandoliers covering her midriff to lightly jingle.

'_Wait, did she just say she called dibs.' _Dread began to crawl into Automne.

"You can't call dibs when no one's around to hear it."

'_Oh my Dust, she's a lesbian. Meaning you have absolutely no chance with her.'_

"Well you just heard me call dibs. So there you go."

'_Well there goes any chance of living a happy life with her and having five kids. Then again I didn't actually know her; I just fantasized for a few hours or so.'_

"That's crap and you know it." Ty said heatedly as their stupid argument began to disintegrate.

"Well tough luck, pal. I saw her first so unless-"

"Enough!" An absolutely irritated Automne shouted.

Eve stopped yanking at her Naginata and looked over at the tree of them. "What was that?"

Automne looked over at Eve, feigning pure befuddlement. "What was what?"

"I thought you said something."

Automne removed his goggles and blinked a few times, "Ummm… No, I don't think I did."

"Oh," Eve blinked a few times and looked back to her weapon. "Never mind then." She shouted almost inaudibly as she returned to the task of removing her weapon from the dead Grimm.

Automne turned back to Eve's partner and Ty, "Look," He breathed in an irate whisper, "Neither of you are calling 'dibs'. Eve's a good friend and she deserves better and if you even try anything I'll shut it down before it even starts. Are we clear?"

A loud sloshing sound filled the air as Eve dislodged her weapon from the King Taijitu's head, causing her to raise it above her head and let out some cheerful laughter, before walking over to the front of its head where she sat down and slowly slid off.

"Crystal," Eve's partner said with a hint of agitation in her tone.

"Alright, fine." Ty said with a disappointed frown as he crossed his arms.

"Good, now never speak of this again." Automne said in a rush before Eve joined them.

"Hey guys, so what're you talking about?" Eve asked happily as she held her tall weapon at her side and glanced between the trio.

"Oh nothing much we were just thanking your teammate for helping us out." Automne lied through his teeth as he looked back and forth between Ty and the partner.

"Yeah, we're really grateful for the help." Ty added with a small honest smile.

"It's not a problem," the blue haired girl said flatly as she sheathed her weapon in a holster on her back. She extended her hand out towards Automne, "My name's Petunia," A wry smile present on her lips.

Automne couldn't help but feel crushed as the thought of having absolutely no chance with Petunia sat in his mind, "I'm Automne." He said with a weak smile. _'Y'know the funny part is I wouldn't have guessed on Petunia; given the hair and all.'_

"And I'm Ty."

"Hi Ty, I'm Eve." She said happily as she shook Ty's hand after Petunia.

Ty gave a loud comfortable sigh, "Alright now that introductions are out of the way let's get going." Ty insisted with a sense of urgency.

"Are you sure you guys don't want to rest for a minute? You look exhausted." A worried Eve inquired as Ty made to walk off through the forest.

"There's no time for that. The longer we take to get out of this forest the worse our scores will become." Ty added in concern.

Eve giggled a bit, "You don't have to worry about that. I can use my semblance to heal all of us while we walk." Eve added with a proud smile as she put her hands together and rested her weapon in the crook of her elbow. The air around them began to grow cool and soft against their skin as a dense, but unusually clear fog engulfed them.

Automne took a deep breath and reveled in the soothing mist which seemed to be patching the cuts along his face and numbing some of his bruises. "Thanks Eve, this is awesome!"

"Thanks, I'm glad it's helping." Eve said through staggered breaths as beads of sweat ran down her face.

"Alright, now let's move out!" Ty called out to the freshly rejuvenated group, who promptly joined him in the last leg of their journey through the forest.

They did it; they ventured through the Emerald Forest, retrieved a relic and managed to make it out of that Dust-forsaken place alive, with the worst possible time out of all the other students who were participating. Automne didn't want to focus on that last part though. They were alive and that's all that mattered… for the most part, and now they patiently waited to be called up to the stage by Ozpin to become inducted into Beacon Academy.

"Go," An occupied Glynda whispered as Ty, Automne, Petunia and Eve were ushered onto the stage.

Automne gave a small sigh, "This is it." He muttered to himself with a smile on his face as the four of them stepped forward in unity with their hands held behind their backs.

"Tyrian Inuhoozuki," Ozpin began, watching them with reserved joy as they took their place in front of him.

Automne blinked a few times, _'Am… Am I with the right group?'_

"Automne Ombre Noire,"

'_Oh… Wait, Ty's name isn't Ty?'_

"Petunia Kapelle, and Eve Howlite. The four of you retrieved the black pawn pieces. From this day forward you shall work together as team Taupe, led by, Tyrian Inuhoozuki."

A large smile spread across Automne's face as he looked from _"Tyrian" _to Petunia and Eve, but something caught his eye. That being the large monitor above them presenting the letters T-A-P-E.

Automne quickly nudged Tyrian and pointed up at the monitor. Tyrian looked up and a horrified expression slowly washed away the joy from his newly acquired position.

Ozpin opened his mouth to call up the next students, but was interrupted by a raised hand from Tyrian. "Umm Professor Ozpin, I hate to interrupt, but our name spells tape." Tyrian said with an evident amount of concern.

Petunia's mouth fell open as she stared up at their team name which had begun to elicit a bit of laughter from their fellow students.

"Yes, but it's pronounced taupe." Ozpin said statically as he looked between the four of them.

"Well… yeah, but… can't you put a U in there instead of an E? Or something."

"I'm sorry but none of your names start with a U. Now if you wouldn't mind clearing the stage, there are other students who need to be initiated." Ozpin asked politely.

Tyrian, Automne, Petunia and Eve complied quietly and walked off the stage completely embarrassed, and the random students pointing, whispering, and snickering didn't exactly help to boost their self-esteem.

Automne gave a heavy sigh as they found a place to stand in the crowd, "So… You're names Tyrian." He said flatly as he glanced over at Tyrian's boots.

"I prefer to be called Ty." He responded listlessly, his mind clearly somewhere else. "It's more fluid that way."

Automne nodded his head and muttered "Alright," He glanced over at Petunia and Eve, Petunia was rubbing her temples, obviously tired out from this entire day and Eve was just staring at one section of the floor.

"It's not so bad." Her quiet uneasy voice rang out to her teammates.

"Not so bad? Eve, we're probably one of the worst teams here." Petunia said in a sad, discouraged and tired tone.

"And our name sounds so stupid." Ty added to the steaming pot of depression.

Eve paused for a minute, Ozpin's voice still ringing in the background as he announced the name of another team. "I think we're pretty cool." Eve said in a small sad voice.

Silence fell between the four of them as they all stared at the floor, with the exception of Automne who was watching Eve with a bit of pity in his eyes.

"I don't think we're cool," Automne broke the silence and gained the attention of his teammates who stared at him inquisitively and slightly offended. "We're a bit too awesome to be cool. Like no offense to everyone else, but I don't think they can match our amazing potential and skill." Automne sarcastically boasted.

A sly grin grew on Petunia's face as she pulled her aviators out of her jacket and slide them onto her face. "Yeah, I mean those other guys got style and all," Petunia popped up the collar of her jacket and tried to hold back a laugh "But they can't touch our swagger."

Ty pushed his glasses up his nose and crossed his arms, "Between the four of us we've got enough skill and brains to outmatch anyone or anything that stands in our way." A large smile dominated his face as he puffed out his chest.

Automne looked back to Eve who was now wearing a giddy smile. A large smirk crossed Automne's lips as he held out his fist before Eve. Eve's eyes glimmered with tears of happiness as she lightly pounded her gloved hand against Automne's.

"Looks like things are shaping up to be an interesting year." Ozpin stated, concluding the ceremonies in the background while Team TAPE shared a laugh in the crowd.

Petunia let out a loud groan as Team TAPE trudged down the hallway towards their dorm. "How much further?"

"Not far," Ty responded patiently as he looked at a sheet of paper that was handed to him after they were inducted. "Keep your eyes open for #38."

"Noooo, I'm too tired to keep my eyes open. Automne, dude, you watch for it." Petunia whined as she dragged her feet against the floor.

"Oh tone it down it's not like they made us climb stairs or anything." Automne slurred as he tried to suppress a yawn.

"Yeah and they even put our luggage in our room for us, so that's nice." Eve chimed in as she lifted her glasses to rub her puffy eyes with one hand while she held all of their uniforms against her chest with the other.

"I wish they would've carried me." Petunia whined as she swayed back and forth with every step.

"Well we're here so you can stop whining now, Ty toss me the key."

"There is no physical key. We have to program a code into our Scrolls so we can each unlock the door when we want to without worrying about losing a key." Ty responded with an angry glare.

Automne gave a groan, "Dude I said we'd go to a repair place this weekend. Just tell me the code."

"I'm not supposed to say it out loud."

"Gah, then get over here." Automne said impatiently.

"Guys you need to be nicer to each other." Eve said in a small reasonable voice.

"He legally owes me a new Scroll." Ty complained as he held his papers in front of Automne's face.

"I said we'll talk about it later, but right now I think we've all earned some well deserved rest." The lock to the door clicked open and Automne pushed the door in. "Voila,"

"Oh thank Dust," Petunia said weakly as she trudged in and began to remove the bandoliers from around her waist and stomach, throwing them onto the floor in the center of the room. "This one's mine." She called out as she pulled off her shoes and fell face first onto the bed on her immediate right.

Automne couldn't refrain from staring as Petunia slipped out of her jacket and rolled onto her back. Her orange tank top seductively crawling up her body as she writhed in bed and rubbed her face against the bright red sheets.

"You're drooling, dude." Ty said flatly as he walked over to the bed on the far left of the room, sat down and started to remove his armor.

Automne ran his sleeve over his mouth only to realize that Ty was messing with him. "Very funny,"

A loud clatter and the soft sound of folded clothes hitting the ground filled the air. Automne turned around just in time to see Eve sprinting down the hallway.

"Eve?!" Automne called after her, he knew it was no good, but there's no harm in trying. He let out a sigh and began to pick up their uniforms from the ground.

"Where'd she run off to?" Ty asked from the room as Automne picked up Eve's almost unwieldy weapon in one hand.

"I don't know. She does this kind of thing a lot." Automne stood Eve's weapon up against himself and examined the mostly smooth shaft and slightly curved blade which towered above his head, he even had to walk it into the room at an angle because it was too tall for the doorframe.

Automne walked over to an empty desk and set the uniforms down. "How long do you think she'll be gone?" Ty asked from across the room as he slipped into a pair of pajama pants.

"I dunno, but I wouldn't worry about it." He replied as he leaned her weapon against the wall, removed his own from the holsters on his back and placed them on the ground next to hers.

Automne sat down on the bed to the far right of the room and began to remove his vest when a loud billowing sound began to grow closer.

"Do you hear that?" Automne asked casually as he stood up.

But Ty's reply wasn't really necessary because right then Eve burst into the room carrying a large blue tarp. She threw the tarp down in the center of the room and ran over to a white suitcase. She popped open the suitcase and rustled its contents around loudly before pulling out a handful of large needles.

"Umm Eve, what are you-"

"If we're going to be living together in the same room we need to have something to divide us!" Eve softly shouted as she stood on top of a night stand, pierced the tarp with one of the needles and threw it into the ceiling.

"Okaaay, but where did you get that tarp?" Automne asked with growing concern as Eve hopped down from the night stand and moved it over a couple of feet.

"I borrowed it from the janitor."

"And he was okay with this?"

"I'm not sure, he wasn't there."

"Uh huh, hey Ty feel free to pitch in whenever you want." Automne advised with hints of concern in his voice.

"I want no part in this." Ty called back as he buried his head under his blankets.

'_Terrific,'_

"So Eve, we're going to give the tarp back, right?"

Eve threw another needle into the roof, "Yeah, but we'll need to get a curtain first." Eve stated in a happy, but humorless tone. "I figured maybe we could go shopping this weekend and buy a nice one that goes on a rail so we can open it up during the day." Eve said with a smile as she threw the last needle into the ceiling and formed a dirty blue impromptu wall that divided the room in half. "So what do you think?" Eve asked with a warm smile as she joined Automne on the right half of the room.

Automne stared up at the tarp for a minute then looked back to Eve whom was watching him with an eager smile, Automne gave a heavy sigh. "What kind of curtain did you want to get?" a small tired smile crossed his lips.

Eve put a finger to her bottom lip, "I'm not quite sure yet, you can help choose if you want to."

Automne gave a small chuckle and walked past Eve and held the tarp to the side, "We can go looking for that stuff this weekend and I'll help you pay for half of all of it." He offered with a smile.

Eve's face went blank from Automne's sudden generosity. "Really? I mean you don't have to, I was going to pay for it all myself."

Automne shrugged, "Eh, it's not a problem, what are friends for?" He uttered with a small smile as he walked behind the tarp and removed his vest.

There was no reply from Eve until after Automne had removed all of his gear and slipped into his bed, and when it came it was only a few pleasant words, "Good night, Automne." Her sweet voice rang through the dark, "and thank you."

Automne slowly closed his eyes, "Good night, Eve." He gently called back as he snuggled his head against his pillow.

'_Anything to make them happy.'_ He thought to himself as he buried his face in the cool fabric of his pillow. There was a lot coming their way, but that was still a while away, so until then he didn't have to worry about it.

Right now all they had to do was get some sleep.

'_Welcome to Beacon.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Hey everybody, thank you for reading if you're enjoying the story follow and favorite and please leave a review. I'm eager to hear what you guys and gals have to say. A big thank you to my editor NinjaSlayer4x for his support, go check out his story if you haven't already. Please tune in next time for the escapades of "Ty", Automne, Petunia and Eve, but until then peace out.<strong>

**-CS**


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